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Perfect Combo

This dinner was the perfect combo of flavors and textures!

Chicken Burgers with Maple-Sweet Collard Greens –

For the chicken burgers, we ground up some of the dark meat from a whole chicken (the one from the brining video!) using our Cuisinart meat grinder attachment. No skin was involved, so it was just the meat. About 135 kcal for a 4 oz burger. Then we (well, the husband) formed them into patties and broiled them for 10-12 minutes, until the meat was done.

I topped my burger with 1/2 a slice of muenster cheese, 1/2 an oz or so of avocado, mustard, ketchup and jalapeño. The best part of the whole burger? The homemade potato bun!

I LOVE collard greens!!!!!!!!!! They are so chewy! We removed the stems, cut them into bite size pieces and sauteed in some cooking spray. Thrown into the mix were 4 dates, chopped, and 2 tsp of maple syrup. There’s nothing like savory veggies made sweet!

All together with hot tea and a vitamin:

This dinner was about 460 kcal, 9 grams fiber and 35 grams protein.

Snack

I had a big mug of Kashi H2H this afternoon with 3 oz of warmed vanilla hemp milk. It was 2 servings of cereal, but I wanted to finish the bag so I topped it off!

I know we’ve talked in the comments some about feeling hungry and snacks. I have observed that from 4-5 p.m., no matter what I have for lunch or what I have for snack, I am always hungry. After this cereal I was still feeling that empty feeling but I knew I just needed to digest. At 5:00 on the dot, my “hunger” went away. I’m often more hungry at 4:30 than I am at 7:30 for dinner! So strange, but a very important observation. Perhaps not even real hunger?? They say if you have to ask yourself if you’re hungry that you’re not. That it’s probably some other sensation. If I didn’t know this about myself I might eat like a bottomless pit from 4-5 every day, but I know that it’s just my body going through some kind of transition.

Early day tomorrow – then Chem lab ( 👿 ) in the afternoon so it’s gonna be a long one. We’re doing titration. And in our lab prep it says “This is a very long lab. You might not even finish so it’s important to be organized.” Now that’s just want I want to hear 😥

Reader Interactions

Comments

I am the SAME way between 4 and 5 p.m. Like clockwork! Hubby likes to eat a later dinner so that is a problem for me….I just have to count on having one snack mid afternoon and another tiny one at 5ish.

If you’re using a color indicator to find your endpoint, remember to add the liquid in your buret drop by drop. One extra drop could throw your calculations. You’re looking for a faint pink that lasts for ~30 seconds. It helps to put a blank white paper underneath and behind to see the faint pink.

Also, pay attention to the amount of liquid in the buret. If you need more than one buret-full, you’ll need to carefully drain it to zero, refill and continue the titration, and remember to add back in the first buret volume for your calculation.

Kath you described me to a TEE with that insatiable hunger at 4-5pm. It seems like nothing I eat makes it go away. I don’t know if it is boredom, tiredness after a long day, or just the thought of dinner approaching??

I also have a question for readers, just out of curiosity:

Who is currently maintaining their weight, who is trying to lose weight (if so how much), and who is trying to gain weight?

Just curious about everyone’s health goals 🙂

I have been maintaining a 28 pound loss for about 1.5 years now. I finally have found the amount I can eat and workout and maintain the weight I like being at. 🙂

Those potato buns look amazing, your husband really has a knack with the breads!

I don’t know if you’ve addressed it in the past, but how do you determine the calorie counts for your recipes. When I looked at the recipe for the potato buns I think the overall calorie count you posted was lower than what my recipe software would calculate.

Mel, I am trying to slightly gain weight (5 lbs), and then maintain. I am 5’4 and 104-105 lbs., but find this whole gaining thing hard because I have no appetite really. I also dont enjoy many nuts or pb or things like that, so adding Higher cal foods to my diet is kind of frustrating. Anyone else here trying to gain?

Hi Kath, me too with the ravenous hunger at 4-5pm (sometimes even until 6pm!) Nothing seems to fill me up… good to know I’m not alone 😛

Also, I wanted to know what you thought of this. I was reading “The Secrets of Skinny Chicks” and inside the author was saying that she surveyed all these enviable, active “skinny chicks”, who all consumed between 1600-1800kcals a day no matter their BMIs or how active they were (some of them survived on 1600kcals a day and burned up to 1200kcals on physical activity). She was saying that although nutritionists recommend that they should be consuming more given their levels of activity, that that would simply make them look bigger than they wanted to be – meaning that they might be a healthy, athletic size 8 rather than the size 2 which they are at now.

I was wondering what you – or anyone else – thinks about this. Can you actually eat NET calories that fall under your BMR, so long as you eat above 1200kcals (her recommendation)? Is this healthy, especially if you really do a lot of strenuous physical activity? Is it desirable to do this in any way?

i’m 5’6″ 140 – goal of 130ish lbs. (my “normal” weight) but my main goal is to listen to my body and not emotionally eat, mindlessly snack, or have those random binges where i sit down to tv and the next thing i know i’ve eaten a whole box of cereal w/o even noticing!

P.S. this and jenna’s blogs have truly helped me with this goal! Lately I’ve been more in tune with my hunger and my body…thanks Kath!

hey girls! i’m 5″6 (and a half!) weighing in at a solid 134lbs. i found (after being at several weights over my-short-life) that 130 is the best weight for me. i am currently looking to drop back down to that (maybe a little more for summer?) but my body REALLY just doesn’t like getting below the 134 marker (i noticed this everytime i dropped weight). does anyone else have this weight block? (it’s not exactly a plateau b/c i can loose up to it just fine! and often go below, but them my body retaliates and makes me eat more to gain back up!) weird, huh? oh! and i’m 18 (almost 19!!!)

quick question kath-i recently started using calorieking, and have a question about bananas: when you weigh them, do you remove the peel or measure the whole thing? b/c when i did it with the peel it came out as 114 calories and without the peel it was 79?? calorie king says “edible part” but then at the bottom it says some% of peel?? help!

So quick question for all you girls, I just looked up how many calories I should be eating per day because I’m trying to live healthy without being too strict on myself and I wanted a ballpark range (i’m 5’9, 125, small frame) and it says 1756 just to maintain my weight at a sedentary activity level (which i’m not, I work out a min of 35 min a day, I just wanted to see the baseline) that seems really high! Does this sound right to you? Does anyone have similar stats to me, if anyone does, is this ballpark your intake? Thanks, I really appreciate the help!

I know this isn’t an exercise blog, but Kath has inspired me to join a gym. I’m thinking of planet fitness. Does anyone belong or know anything about this gym chain? It seems very affordable…just wondering!

I’m 5’6″ and weigh 140 and I’d like to get back to 130ish. I gained the weight after quitting smoking. Kath, your blog has helped tremendously. I’ve found that reading it every day and joining in the discussions has really made me hold myself accountable. Thank you!

I always have to have a mid-afternoon snack too. I eat lunch early (between 12 and 12:30pm) and dinner late (around 8) so I need something in between.

I’m so incredibly bored of my usually apple and light babybel cheese though. I’ve switched to low-fat yogurt with some Kashi Good Friends cereal, a few dry roasted, unsalted almonds and some flax seeds. I love the combo but don’t want to get bored. For the last couple of weeks I LOVED Kashi crackers. I ate them too many times in a row and now I don’t even want to look at them. Same with light Swiss cheese.

I’m 5 feet tall and 29 years old. I’ve maintained a 22 pound loss for four years and would like to drop 20 more pounds.

I always have to have a mid-afternoon snack too. I eat lunch early (between 12 and 12:30pm) and dinner late (around 8pm) so I need something in between.

I’m so incredibly bored of my usually apple and light babybel cheese though. I’ve switched to low-fat yogurt with some Kashi Good Friends cereal, a few dry roasted, unsalted almonds and some flax seeds. I love the combo but don’t want to get bored. For the last couple of weeks I LOVED Kashi crackers. I ate them too many times in a row and now I don’t even want to look at them. Same with light Swiss cheese.

I’m 5 feet tall and 29 years old. I’ve maintained a 22 pound loss for four years and would like to drop 20 more pounds.

I am always hungry at 430 – 5 as well, and get up around the same time as you. I wonder if that has anything to do with it, our internal clock? Not sure. But I usually workout in the evening starting at 430 so it gets irritating. Heh. Normally the working out helps calm the hunger for a bit.

For me, the hunger comes between 3-4. Plus, I’m always cold at that time, and drowsy. Ideally, I drink water and do some sit-ups, but when all I really want to do is crawl in bed to get warm, I microwave a mug of milk and add vanilla, splenda (or a teeny bit of sugar) cinnamon & nutmeg. That helps a lot. It seems like it should make you sleepier, but the cinnamon is a little energizing. Plus, it’s thicker than tea and the warmth satisfies my tummy.

KellyA…I belong to a Planet Fitness out here, its definitely cheaper than the other clubs nearby…the only thing it lacks that I wish it had were classes, but I guess thats why 🙂
Basically its two minutes from my house so it gives me no excuse to not go which is why I use it compared to other ones that have a bit more (and its the cheapest!) They do have (atleast at mine) these mini-sessions that help get you set up for strength training which is great! All in all, not too bad, depending on what your looking for in a gym…

Glad I’m not the only nerd who is commenting on the Chemistry and not the food. 😉

Definitely take it slowly, and if you can setup your titration so that you can swirl the Erlenmeyer flask as you’re slowly adding the solution from the buret even better. You’ll see the solution in the flask change to very faint pink and then fade as you’re swirling, then you’ll know you’re close.

Hi Mel,
I think I am a little late to the comments, but I am 5’7 and started to lose when I realized I was 152 lbs, which is heavy for me. I guess I never lost the weight from my twins (they are 6 now!). I am currently 139 lbs. and will keep going to 130. Maybe even 129 just because its in the 120’s-haha. I really look and feel my best between 125-130, and 125 is kind of on the low end.

I’m 5’7 and I’m currently 117. This is after losing about 25 lbs. over the last year. I actually wouldn’t mind being closer to 125–I think I’m a little too thin now. =( I’m 17 by the way. I love this blog and it has inspired me to look at the field of health and nutrition as a possible career. Thanks Kath! By the way, we made turkey burgers for dinner tonight, I wish we’d had those tasty homemade buns too!

I am 5’10” and 125…I know everyone prolly thinks I starve myself bc my parents did for a while but I am really active, love to workout/run, and eat healthy if I can. I also have some health issues I am dealing with like being severly anemic and such. Two years about (senior year in hs) I was at a healthy weight of 145 and since then I honestly dont know what has really changed cept for me cutting out the numerous fast food meals a day and late night drive thru runs? I am definately trying not to lose any weight so I am trying to eat more so that I am still able to workout and lift and stuff without worrying about dropping weight it’s just been kinda hard because every1 else around me is so worried about their diet (you know how young girls are we all do!)

I honestly hate it because I’ve been aiming for 2500 calories a day when I jog or something but it’s hard because sometimes when I eat healthy stuff like lots of fiber n protein I am fuller and end up feeling like I am eating just to eat…

Hey Kath, I just wanted to say thanks, I tried the Kashi H2H b/c you eat it so much and it is fantastic! I can eat is before class and it will last me through all morning without a snack. I will have to try some of your recipes too.

Hi Kath 🙂
Thanks for the comment about the protein powder…I looked it up some more online, and it looks like some people mix it into the oatmeal AFTER they cook it, and they make it more watery to start with since the protein powder can be a little thick. So I might try doing this instead of cooking it with it in there. I’m around, I’m still reading your blog every day, just haven’t made too many comments because I’ve been busy at work (everyone around here is coming into the office with the flu!!), and some of the medically related questions have died down a bit recently. But I still like chiming in when I can 🙂

re: training hunger
It sounds like everyone is hungry in the afternoon…I always am too; however, I always eat breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. Sometimes I even eat a snack after dinner if I’ve worked out especially hard that day and am still hungry! I find it best and a lot of top RD’s out there usually recommend eating more frequent, balanced meals, because it keeps your energy up and metabolism going all day long. You don’t WANT to get to the point during the day where you’ve gone 5 or more hours w/out eating, because 1) you may get so ravenous that when you do have time to eat something you’ll overeat because you’re so hungry 2) your brain power will actually go down a bit and you might find it difficult to concentrate because of diminished energy levels/ blood glucose levels. I find I function and feel much better when I am eating smaller more frequent meals; on the weekends sometimes I get away from this and it totally throws off my eating pattern for the day, and I find I overeat mainly at dinner time to make up for sleeping in and skipping breakfast, and I tend to overeat on the bad stuff not the vegetables!

Adeline/ re: burning more calories per day than you consume:
If you are looking to lose weight, this idea makes sense, because ideally you’d want to eat a few hundred calories less per day than you are actually burning, so in a week’s time you’d have burned off a pound or so of weight (I believe that means you’d have to burn around an extra 3600 calories to lose one pound). However, if you’re maintaining a weight loss or just trying to stay the same weight, you should basically eat enough calories to cover your resting metabolic rate and your activities for the day. Eating too few calories per day and exercising a lot to maintain a low body weight that is not ideal for your shape/size could actually be considered a form of an eating disorder, and I wouldn’t recommend it. Most young/healthy women need at least 1800 calories to maintain if you add in all the activities, workouts, and even just work they do each day; however it’s different for every person. Most people’s bodies have a “set point” which is where it tends to settle at if you eat a balanced, healthy diet, and work out a modest amount (I’m not talking killing yourself at the gym for hours, I’m talking 30-60 minutes most days of the week w/ a variety of cardio and some muscle toning sessions). For me, I find that even when I overindulge during a week say on extra desserts or go out to dinner a few times more than usual, if I still eat around these splurges my typical meals/healthy foods, my weight never fluctuates more than about 1# from my normal 127 pounds. When I was in college and played sports, I was 127 pounds but was just a little lower on body fat and a little more muscular than I am now, but still weighed the same number. And I definitely eat healthier now ( I ate a lot of simple carbs like bagels and pretzels and I restricted my calories too much in college, yet I still weigh the same!)! So point I’m trying to make is, you’re better off taking a healthy approach to your eating and exercise patterns, and I think you’ll find that your body will eventually even out at a weight that is best for it, and you’ll be a lot happier and healthier than restricting and working every calorie off to maintain a weight that’s too low for it; eventually the body will slow the metabolism and gain a few pounds to try and get to it’s set point anyway if you don’t feed it too much, and you can seriously ruin your metabolism for doing so!
Sorry for rambling and making this so long…

im 5 ft 4 and 115 lbs… i lost 15 lbs after college by getting off my booty and quitting all the booze! id like to gain some muscle weight and spend a lot of time at the gym lifting weights but its hard!

any advice for muscle gain?

oh about the calorie needs…. i eat about 1600-1700 a day to maintain my loss.

Jill,
The husband does his bread by weight, so he either weighs the final loaf to get the total oz cooked or divided by the number of single servings if it’s buns. He calculates the total ingredients involved in the recipe and then divides. He told me these came out to 150 kcal each (he didn’t know the fiber/protein). Did you put the ingredients in and get something different? Maybe he goofed the calculation!

Adeline,
Goalie gave an excellent answer (thanks, Goalie!). My opinion (and an R.D. told me this last year) is that you should always NET more than 1200 kcal, regardless of your weight loss and maintenance goals. I think it’s hard to NET below 1200, so it’s never been a problem for me 🙂

Kay,
I washed my apple the night before and forgot the sticker. I usually take it off when I wash though.

Cameron,
You should only weigh food you’re going to eat, so never include the peel. When CK has a weight in parenthesis that means the net weight after the peel is removed, so 1 small banana 6″ long WITH the peel will yield about 3.6 oz of banana FLESH.

Ashley,
1700ish sounds right for maintenance without exercise. That’s what calculators estimate for me too.

ShaeLiz ,
Try http://www.localharvest.org. Most CSAs are registered there. We found ours there and are waiting on confirmation that we were accepted!

BethT,
You CANNOT compare weight and height!! It’s apples to oranges. You might have dense bones – or way more muscle but actually wear a smaller size. I’ve always weighed 5-10 pounds more than others my size because I’ve got a more athletic build. Don’t let the numbers get to you!

Iceicebabyy ,
Nope, I never eat oatmeal plain – toppings are the best part!

sirenjess ,
I use a scale for more things because it’s more accurate and there is nothing to clean afterwards. I use measuring cups for things like oats because they are dry and I don’t need to clean my cups. Scales are just such an easier way to track portions – I find measuring cups hard to use because I try to pack the food in and end up only cheating myself.

I think its so interesting to see all the different height/weight combos and who wants to loose. gain and maintain. I’m 5’9″-10″ and my goal is 160. I’m amazed by those who are my height and weigh 125 lbs! I would look sickly at that weight(I was told that I looked anorexic when I weighed 152-my lowest adult weight ever). I guess it just goes to show that each body is different.

I would also like to say on the same thought as whoever had said it, it also depends on your body type, as far as height/weight and how you, yourself, look at a certain height/weight. (does that make sense?) My point is that it seems most girls here are still pretty young. When I was a teenager and into my twenties-even after having a baby-its just different, I was very thin. Your body uses ‘fuel’ differently and obviously faster. Now at 35, my body has ‘settled’ into how its going to look. My hips are obviously a little wider now, I don’t think I could fit into a size 0 ever again due to just that! And believe me, that’s just fine, size 4-6 is great for me. I think healthy eating and exercise are key and I am just working towards a healthy, strong looking body.
Sorry for the ramble, I think my point is this, keep trying to be healthy (not skinny) and it will do well for you all of your life. Oh and the older you get, when you’re really skinny, it looks kind of gross-think Terri Hatcher.
Anyway, I really should drink more coffee before I start rambling! I hope you understand the point I was trying to make! Thanks for tolerating me!

I’m 5’9″ and 120 pounds. I am trying to gain 10, because, yes, this weight is not enough. I’ve found that I need to eat more than 2,500 calories a day to gain SLOWLY. If I eat this amount or under, I remain stable (not my goal), or even lose.

I’m active, but not anymore active than a lot of girls on here. I do 30 min. of cardio 6 times a week and strength train 3 days a week for about 45 min.

And to answer ashley’s question – that caloric goal is not too high and actually, is probably too low. You are at a pretty low weight for your (our) height. Perhaps meeting with a dietician in person could give you more answers and make sure you are healthy and your goals are healthy.

I met with one and am very thankful for it. She gave me great tips and actually helped me loosen up my too-strict eating. I think it would be a good idea for you and anyone else looking for answers, guidance, tips, etc. in this area.

Kath: I initially put the info into a web site (thedailyplate.com) and that is terrible at figuring calories. I plugged your potato bun recipe into my MasterCook 9 software and here are the stats I got, so now you can know the fiber and protein too!